Let's talk halloween

So one of my dreams is to be invited to a Halloween themed wedding. I was actually asked to be DOC for a masquerade themed wedding on Halloween night but had to turn it down. How fun would that have been though!! I applaud any bride who loves something so much she brings that theme into her wedding.

A halloween themed wedding can be as understated and HALLOWEEN as you would like. A touch of stripes on a wedding dress to a full blown out "costume" type gown can be in order.


or by simply placing a spooky tree on your invite, some black napkins and some hanging bats with eery lighting can cast a halloween themed mood.

I have seen numerous weddings where the bride has made a brooch bouquet, how gorgeous is the top right one for a halloween wedding, with the oranges, blacks and deep purples!?

For a wedding like this you have so much flexibility when it comes to how you would like to present your wedding. Will it be costume themed, with ghouls and vampires running around? or would you like it to be understated?
Maybe you would like a halloween themed wedding but are not comfortable with a black wedding dress or taking pictures in a graveyard (as per collage one, top left picture!).

Why not just pull in the theme with some of the most subtle touches.
Either way you can have a really classy halloween themed wedding or can go all out and have a masquerade themed wedding with guests dressed up bobbing for apples as you snuggle with your new husband!


Happy planning!

Fall into Friday

Every friday I would like to just post various pictures, inspiration and boards for you to view, I feel its a good transition into the weekend where hopefully you become inspired and thingkabout some things you would like to see, feel, smell or taste on your wedding day.

Today's post keeps in tune with the fall theme.





Have a great weekend everyone, and happy planning!

Feature - Bailey & Andrew Grose, July 24, 2010 - Vancouver, BC

My wedding was just featured on Brenda's Wedding Blog and can be found at this link .

I thought I would share the post with you. Although this extract explains my wedding entirely it does not say that this was the motivating factor behind me becoming a wedding planner. Although for years, as as long as I can remember, I have wanted to do this my wedding was the extra boost of confidence I needed. After (and while setting up) the wedding I had many people ask me who my wedding planner was. It was during those moments that I realized maybe I SHOULD be a wedding planner. And hence the journey begins.

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Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Guest Count: 100 including bridal party

I'm very excited to bring you today's Real Wedding from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Bailey, the bride, follows me on Facebook and asked about submitting her wedding. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a must feature - you are going to LOVE it. The photos from Carolyn Egerszegi Photography {and second shooter Sean Norman} are stunning and perfectly capture all the little details. And it's not something I see often, but Carolyn also focused on the groom's accessories for the detail shots - including his shoes and even his tie hanging from a chandelier.

All of the wedding party photos were taken before the ceremony in the historic gastown in Vancouver. Bailey says she "loved the edgy city feel it gave but had the natural looking cobblestones, gas lanterns, bright and flowered hanging baskets." Bailey met her soon-to-be-husband, Andrew, at a 98 year old home across from her apartment for their first look photos. After all the photos were taken, they went to the ceremony at 5pm and straight to the reception at 6pm.

Bailey grew up in a small town with the population just reaching the 800 mark. So when she moved to the "big city" of Vancouver, Bailey wanted to compromise and infuse her past into the present and future. To do this, Bailey chose to have "a low key, grassroots level wedding with the added touch and class of a Vancouver high class wedding". Bailey continues to explain . . . "I used the elements of stone, glass/crystal, "green" and nature to pull this all together. The church was entirely made of glass walls on two sides, with the ends made of river rocks all framed by a vaulted timber roof. It was small and very intimate church that both my husband and i fell in love with. We had the reception right next door in a long room with one wall of glass and a wood roof, brick fireplace and green beams. The windows provided a vibrant living artwork of green trees to compliment the wedding. My motto was less is more and its all in the details."

Don't you just love the posed and candid snapshots of the wedding party below?

Bailey says she was a "very laid back bride and only had a few things in mind that I had my little heart set on. One of them was not the bridesmaid dresses. My original plan was to have them in brown, but as summer crept on our heels I felt it would be to dark and wanted to draw more "nature" in. The weekend all the girls came to Vancouver to go shopping we happened to find these AMAZING green dresses, off the rack, at Bryans (and get this...they were only $99.00!!!))."

Bailey continues to explain her wedding . . . "To help stop the budget from ballooning to epic proportions I took on a lot of DIY projects to cut down on costs. I found most of my vendors through Craigslist, people who were just starting out and needed some portfolio work done. This benefited me and them so much, those vendors included my florist, my baker and videographer. My DIY projects included all my centerpieces which were made of curly witch hazel, borrowed vases, rocks, ivory silk cherry blossoms and hanging crystals from an old chandelier. I made up the candy buffet as favours for all our amazing guests and hand stamped a "G" on all the bags with the words "All you need is love". This was also our re-occurring theme for the day. We had that stamped on all our hand made invitations, candy bags, menus and the back of the table numbers, we also had the trio play that as we excited the church."

the above cake and cupcake photos are courtesy of Anna Elizabeth Cakes

Congratulations Bailey and Andrew - thank you for sharing your gorgeous special day with my readers.

Wedding Vendors:
Church: The Chapel of the Epiphany on the UBC Campus
Reception Site: Theas Lounge in the Graduate Student Centre on the UBC Campus
Caterer/Food/Drink: Sisters Act Catering (Rachel Goltz)
Bridal Gown: Maggie Sottero (Melissa Brooch) from the Bridal Gallery
Veil and jewelry: Ebay
Shoes: Le Château
Groom’s and Groomsmen Attire: Debonair Formal at the Bridal Gallery
Bridesmaids dresses: Bryans
Stationery: Invitations were purchased from Michaels (they were programs converted into invitations). The programs and menu cards were also invitations from Michaels but purchased from Craigslist and were converted as well.
Photography: Carolyn Egerszegi
Second shooter for the day was Sean Norman
Videography: First Language Films
Ceremony Music: String Trio (Studio G)
Reception Music: John Felice of Complete Music & Video
Flowers: Sandy's Wedding Services and Rentals
Linen and Dish Rentals: Londsale Rentals
Cake/Cupcakes: Anna Elizabeth Cakes

Fall Flowers

Fall is upon us and all the leaves have changed from green to a rainbow of reds, yellows and oranges. The ground has become scattered with so many colours and even though the weather has taken a dreary turn and the sun no longer shines as much as it used to the colours in the air and the ground make the day feel just as bright and cheerful.

How do you get that feeling on your wedding day? Flowers.

Yellow would be the obvious first choice to brighten up a bouquet, but as you can tell from the above pictures, reds, oranges and white can brighten the bouquet as well. Maybe even some lime green mums.

Your boquets are the centerpiece to the theme of your wedding. Are you going for a rustic look? You may want to use local or wild flowers then. Are you going for a rich romantic look? Maybe a boquet stritcly one colour of deep red roses and dark purple hydrangeas can achieve that. Either way, when putting together your boquet keep your theme in mind.

Happy Planning.

Damask Fall Themed Weddings

In the past week I have written about damask and fall themed weddings.

If you love both, why not have a fall themed damask wedding.

Damask can be a very over powering pattern and like any other wedding to much of a good thing, can become a bad thing. This includes colour, texture, lighting or even to much stuff being monogrammed. A simple reminder that less is more is key to a gorgeous wedding.

For a fall wedding and incorporating some damask I would suggest adding smaller details that bring the theme together.

Such as cakes:

Invitations:Or small "unique" touches:
Either way, incorporating both damask and a fall theme is easy and very achievable. Be creative!

Happy Planning

Fall Weddings

Happy Monday everyone!

Were you lucky enough to be involved in a fall wedding this past weekend?

Fall is one of my favorite times to get married. The colour palate is so rich, so exciting, so GORGEOUS.

Today I bring you a fall themed wedding post.

Having a fall themed wedding can be best described as "warm", and not in the sense of having a scorching hot summer wedding, but more with the "coziness" and "warmth" that rich deep colours can bring.

Some great ideas for a fall coloured wedding include the following:












A brighter purple for fall has been the coming trend for 2010 I am more partial to a darker eggplant purple for fall though as it is a little more richer for the bright fall colours that end up in your photos from the foliage.

Fall weddings have one colour factor in it that most weddings do not. TONS of colour. For a summer wedding, minus floral backgrounds, your photos will contain the lovely blue sky and usually some green foliage. In fall you have the fall leaf colours of reds, greens, yellows and oranges.

To best neutralize the background for your fall wedding it is suggested the bridesmaids wear a darker or more neutral colour such as brown, eggplant, dark red or burnt orange. Or you can play up the colours of the fall foliage and be bright and colour full with a primary red or orange. Just remember, a neutral dress allows you to be more "free" with the bouquets adding various colours and allowing that to be your palette of colours. You do not want to many colours or "things" going on in your pictures. I mentioned it before and I will mention it again. Your wedding is your day and whatever colours you choose are chosen for a reason and they will work not matter the season.

Happy Planning!

Damask Weddings

In September I worked with my first bride at my first wedding. It was fantastic. I will follow up on that wedding in more detail when I receive some of her pictures.

For now I would like to touch on the newest wedding trend. Damask. This was the theme at the wedding I worked at in September. Her accent was red and it was an absolutely gorgeous wedding. Damask lends a very classic and elegant touch to any wedding.

The obvious idea for damask would be for an elegant and formal affair but working in the wedding planning business, I have discovered a few things. Everything in moderation can be done anywhere and anytime.

A damask themed wedding in a ballroom could also be transformed into a smaller more intimate back yard wedding

and remember, its always in the details

Although the going trend right now is black and white damask, which makes it more apporpriate for a winter wedding, remember, damask can be ANY colour which can fit to your fall, spring or summer wedding. Do not ever let the idea of "whats in" or "appropriate" stop you from having your dream wedding.

Happy Planning.